Focusing on the ineptitude, drug abuse, sexual misconduct and corruption of Afghan security forces, VICE’s new documentary “This is What Winning Looks Like” begs the question: IS this what winning looks like?
These 9 eye-opening clips from the film take a grim look at the situation in Afghanistan.
[video]
Franklin Alexander Ordonez Ordonez (left) is from the capital city of Honduras, considered one of the most violent places on earth. Speaking from a graveyard in Nogales where he sought a shady reprieve close to the Arizona border, Ordonez said he was on his way north and would be trying for a fourth time to enter the country in search of work. He said no number of Border Patrol arrests would be enough to discourage him. “I’ll try until I make it,” Ordonez said in Spanish. “It doesn’t matter how many times it takes.” He does not have family in the United States. Three brothers and sisters are back home in Honduras.
More on the revolving door at the border in our new investigation.
Credit: Will Seberger/For the Center for Investigative Reporting
[video]
[video]
Boy Scouts of America set to vote on gay youth ban -
The Boy Scouts of America will vote on Thursday on a proposal to remove its ban on openly gay scouts that has been in place throughout the organization’s 103-year history.
The vote by more than 1,400 delegates comes amid intense lobbying by gay-rights activists and members of conservative organizations. The proposal would not remove the organization’s ban on gay adult leaders.
Representatives from both sides have rallied in Grapevine, Texas, near Dallas, where the scouting organization is hosting its national annual meeting.
While much of the BSA leadership apparently supports the rule change, recent polls show that many of the people directly associated with the Boy Scouts of America aren’t as supportive. According to Reuters, an online survey of roughly 200,000 BSA members, parents, and leaders showed that the majority opposed the changes at a nearly 2-1 ratio.
U.S. Acknowledges Killing 4 Americans in Drone Strikes -
One day before President Obama is due to deliver a speech on national security, his administration formally acknowledged that the United States had killed American citizens in Yemen and Pakistan.
Read the letter here. (via NY Times)
VA backs off promise to fix veterans' claim backlog -
The Department of Veterans Affairs has systematically missed nearly all of its internal benchmarks for reducing a hulking backlog of benefits claims and has quietly backed away from repeated promises to give all veterans and family members speedier decisions by 2015.
[video]